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CVS Health Releases 11th Annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report

CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) today released its 11th annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, detailing its latest efforts to shape the future of health care, reduce environmental impacts and exemplify corporate leadership in fulfilling the company's purpose of helping people on their path to better health.

Published 6 years ago | About a 4 minute read

Among the company's key CSR initiatives in 2017 were an enterprise response to combatting the opioid crisis, the development of a carbon emissions reduction target in line with climate science, and a rapid and robust response to a series of natural disasters that impacted CVS Health operations, colleagues and communities. The company also made new commitments to increase access to health care for veterans and military families, as well as to address the nation's skills gap through its Registered Apprenticeship program. To further align enterprise goals and values with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, CVS Health became the first U.S. pharmacy chain to join the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative.

"At CVS Health, we serve as the front door to health care touching the lives of one in three Americans, with a presence in thousands of communities across the country. We are playing an active role in providing more affordable, accessible, and effective care, and our corporate social responsibility strategy supports these efforts," said Larry Merlo, President and Chief Executive Officer for CVS Health. "Looking ahead, we will continue to align our CSR goals with CVS Health's leading position at the heart of health care delivery in the United States."

CVS Health's CSR framework, Prescription for a Better World, spans efforts across three strategic pillars: Health in Action, Planet in Balance and Leader in Growth. Within each pillar, the company has established goals and measurable, time-bound targets to ensure accountability. The company also reports on progress made against each target in this year's Report.

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"In 2017, we established new leadership positions across a range of CSR issues. We were thoughtful and determined in how we generated impact by leveraging our size, scale and expertise," said Eileen Howard Boone, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy. "Collaboration with our many internal and external partners drove us forward. Their partnership and support will continue to be central to the advancement of our CSR strategy."

Notable accomplishments in 2017 include:

Health in Action

An enhanced utilization management program to ensure that opioids are being prescribed and used appropriately, consistent with guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Launch of in-store medication disposal units to safely collect medication that could otherwise be diverted, misused or abused
Significant progress against 2020 targets to help deliver the first tobacco-free generation, including 4.4 million youth reached with tobacco-free messaging and 128 new tobacco-free educational institutions
An expanded partnership between MinuteClinic and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to provide access to affordable health services for more than 120,000 veterans
Delivery of more than $6.4 million in services through the Project Health free health screening campaign, which since 2006, has resulted in more than $122 million in services provided Planet in Balance
Submission of a science-based emissions reduction target for approval from the Science Based Targets initiative
The removal of chemicals of consumer concern across nearly 600 store brand beauty and personal care products
Progress toward the company's 2020 target of sustainably sourced palm oil in all store brand products containing this ingredient
The diversion of 48 percent of company-generated waste to recycling and reuse through ongoing, data-driven improvement projects Leader in Growth
Record spending with diverse and women-owned suppliers, and the establishment of new spending targets for 2020
Inclusion on DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity list for the first time, a result of a greater focus on diverse supplier spending and management-level recruitment
The opening of a Talent Connect Center in Fort Bragg, NC to connect service members and their spouses with career training and employment opportunities as they transition from military to civilian life CVS Health's 2017 CSR Report was developed in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards, a global framework widely used by organizations to report on CSR and sustainability performance. The company completed a materiality assessment in 2017 and focused its reporting on topics that reflect its most significant economic, environmental, and social impacts, or that substantively influence the assessments and decisions of stakeholders.